Handheld electronic device including automatic preferred selection of a punctuation, and associated method

ABSTRACT

A method of enabling input on a handheld electronic device, which includes an input apparatus having a number of input members that are capable of being actuated, wherein at least one of the input members has a plurality of selectable output alternatives, includes detecting as a first input an actuation of an input member, generating a first output, detecting as a second input an actuation of an input member having a plurality of selectable output alternatives comprising at least a primary punctuation and a secondary punctuation, determining that said first output has a predetermined characteristic, preferring as a second output said secondary punctuation, and outputting said second output.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The instant application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/338,743 filed on Mar. 24, 2006, entitled “HandheldElectronic Device Including Automatic Preferred Selection of aPunctuation, and Associated Method,” the contents of which areincorporated herein.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The disclosed and claimed concept relates generally to handheldelectronic devices and, more particularly, to a method of enabling inputon a handheld electronic device.

2. Description of the Related Art

Numerous types of handheld electronic devices are known. Examples ofsuch handheld electronic devices include, for instance, personal dataassistants (PDAs), handheld computers, two-way pagers, cellulartelephones, and the like. Many handheld electronic devices also featurewireless communication capability, although many such handheldelectronic devices are stand-alone devices that are functional withoutcommunication with other devices.

Such handheld electronic devices are generally intended to be portable,and thus are of a relatively compact configuration in which keys andother input structures often perform multiple functions under certaincircumstances or may otherwise have multiple aspects or featuresassigned thereto. With advances in technology, handheld electronicdevices are built to have progressively smaller form factors yet haveprogressively greater numbers of applications and features residentthereon. As a practical matter, the keys of a keypad can only be reducedto a certain small size before the keys become relatively unusable. Inorder to enable text entry, however, a keypad must be capable ofentering all twenty-six letters of the Latin alphabet, for instance, aswell as appropriate punctuation and other symbols.

One way of providing numerous letters in a small space has been toprovide a “reduced keyboard” in which multiple letters, symbols, and/ordigits, and the like, are assigned to any given key. For example, atouch-tone telephone includes a reduced keypad by providing twelve keys,of which ten have digits thereon, and of these ten keys eight have Latinletters assigned thereto. For instance, one of the keys includes thedigit “2” as well as the letters “A”, “B”, and “C”. Other known reducedkeyboards have included other arrangements of keys, letters, symbols,digits, and the like.

In order to enable a user to make use of the multiple letters, digits,and the like on any given key, numerous keystroke interpretation systemshave been provided. For instance, a “multi-tap” system allows a user tosubstantially unambiguously specify a particular character on a key bypressing the same key a number of times equivalent to the position ofthe desired character on the key. For example, on the aforementionedtelephone key that includes the letters “ABC”, and the user desires tospecify the letter “C”, the user will press the key three times. Whilesuch multi-tap systems have been generally effective for their intendedpurposes, they nevertheless can require a relatively large number of keyinputs compared with the number of characters that ultimately areoutput.

Another exemplary keystroke interpretation system would include keychording, of which various types exist. For instance, a particularcharacter can be entered by pressing two keys in succession or bypressing and holding first key while pressing a second key. Stillanother exemplary keystroke interpretation system would be a“press-and-hold/press-and-release” interpretation function in which agiven key provides a first result if the key is pressed and immediatelyreleased, and provides a second result if the key is pressed and heldfor a short period of time. While such systems have likewise beengenerally effective for their intended purposes, such systems also havetheir own unique drawbacks.

Another keystroke interpretation system that has been employed is asoftware-based text disambiguation function. In such a system, a usertypically presses keys to which one or more characters have beenassigned, actuating each key one time for each desired letter, and thedisambiguation software attempts to predict the intended input. Numeroussuch systems have been proposed, and while many have been generallyeffective for their intended purposes, shortcomings still exist.

One such shortcoming arises when the handheld electronic device has a“keyboard” in which multiple punctuations are assigned to a given key.For example, the comma (,) as well as the apostrophe (') might beassigned to a single key. When such a key is depressed, the handheldelectronic device will typically prefer the comma as the user's firstinput selection as opposed to the apostrophe. There are instances,however, when a user would prefer having the apostrophe appear as thefirst selection rather than the comma.

It would be desirable, therefore, to provide an improved method ofenabling input on a handheld electronic device in which the handheldelectronic device has the capability of presenting to a user apunctuation most likely to be assigned by the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A full understanding can be gained from the following Description whenread in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an improved handheld electronic device inaccordance with the disclosed and claimed concept;

FIG. 2 is a schematic depiction of the improved handheld electronicdevice of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting one embodiment of a method in accordancewith the disclosed and claimed concept; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting another embodiment of a method inaccordance with the disclosed and claimed concept.

DESCRIPTION

The accompanying figures and the description that follows set forth thedisclosed and claimed concept in its preferred embodiments. It is,however, contemplated that persons generally familiar with handheldelectronic devices will be able to apply the novel characteristics ofthe methods illustrated and described herein in other contexts bymodification of certain details. Accordingly, the figures anddescription are not to be taken as restrictive on the scope of thedisclosed and claimed concept, but are to be understood as broad andgeneral teachings.

When referring to the term “linguistic element” and variations thereof,such designations shall refer broadly to any element that itself can bea language object or from which a language object can be constructed,identified, or otherwise obtained, and thus would include, but not belimited to, characters, letters, strokes, symbols, ideograms, phonemes,morphemes, digits (numbers), and the like.

When referring to the term “consonant” and variations thereof, suchdesignation is meant to cover all letters of the Latin alphabet that areregarded as consonants regardless of whether the letter is uppercase(Majuscule form) or lowercase (Minuscule form).

When referring to the term “number” and variations thereof, suchdesignation is meant to cover use of any numbers or digits including,but not limited, to the natural numbers as well as negative andnon-negative numbers.

When referring to the term “punctuation” and variations thereof, suchdesignation is meant to cover use of the following: the exclamationpoint (!), the question mark (?), the period (.), the comma (,), theapostrophe ('), the open quotation mark (“), the closed quotation mark(”), the semicolon (;), and/or the colon (:).

When referring to the term “reduced” and variations thereof in thecontext of a keyboard, a keypad, or other arrangement of input members,such designations shall refer broadly to an arrangement in which atleast one of the input members has assigned thereto a plurality oflinguistic elements such as, for example, characters in the set of Latinletters.

For purposes of the description hereinafter, the terms “upper”, “lower”,“right”, “left”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, andderivatives thereof shall relate to the disclosed and claimed concept asit is oriented in the figures.

An improved handheld electronic device 2 is indicated generally in FIG.1 and is depicted schematically in FIG. 2. The exemplary handheldelectronic device 2 includes a housing 4 upon which are disposed aprocessor unit that includes an input apparatus 6, an output apparatus8, a processor 10, a memory 12, and at least a first routine. Theprocessor 10 may be, for instance, and without limitation, amicroprocessor (μP) and is responsive to inputs from the input apparatus6 and provides output signals to the output apparatus 8. The processor10 also interfaces with the memory 12. The processor 10 and the memory12 together form a processor apparatus. Examples of handheld electronicdevices are included in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,452,588 and 6,489,950, whichare incorporated by reference herein.

As can be understood from FIG. 1, the input apparatus 6 includes akeypad 14 and a thumbwheel 16. As will be described in greater detailbelow, the keypad 14 is in the exemplary form of a reduced QWERTYkeyboard including a plurality of keys 18 that serve as input members.It is noted, however, that the keypad 14 may be of other configurations,such as an AZERTY keyboard, a QWERTY keyboard, or other keyboardarrangement, whether presently known or unknown, and either reduced ornot reduced.

The system architecture of the handheld electronic device 2advantageously is organized to be operable independent of the specificlayout of the keypad 14. Accordingly, the system architecture of thehandheld electronic device 2 can be employed in conjunction withvirtually any keypad layout without requiring any meaningful change inthe system architecture. It is further noted that certain of thefeatures set forth herein are usable on either or both of a reducedkeyboard and a non-reduced keyboard.

The keys 18 are located on a front face 20 of the housing 4, and thethumbwheel 16 is located at a side 22 of the housing 4. In addition tothe keys 18, the thumbwheel 16 can serve as another input member sincethe thumbwheel 16 is capable of being rotated, as indicated by arrow 24,and depressed generally toward the housing 4, as indicated by arrow 26.Rotation of the thumbwheel 16 provides selection inputs to the processor10, while depression of the thumbwheel 16 provides another selectioninput to the processor 10.

Among the keys 18 of the keypad 14 are a <NEXT> key 28 and an <ENTER>key 30. The <NEXT> key 28 can be depressed to provide a selection inputto the processor 10 and provides substantially the same selection inputas is provided by a rotational input of the thumbwheel 16. Since the<NEXT> key 28 is provided adjacent a number of the other keys 18 of thekeypad 14, the user can provide a selection input to the processor 10substantially without moving the user's hands away from the keypad 14during a text entry operation. The <NEXT> key 28 additionally andadvantageously includes a graphic 32 disposed thereon, and in certaincircumstances the output apparatus 8 also displays a displayed graphic34 thereon to identify the <NEXT> key 28 as being able to provide aselection input to the processor 10. In this regard, the displayedgraphic 34 of the output apparatus 8 is substantially similar to thegraphic 32 on the <NEXT> key 28 and thus identifies the <NEXT> key 28 asbeing capable of providing a desirable selection input to the processor10.

As can further be seen in FIG. 1, many of the keys 18 include a one ormore linguistic elements (characters) 36 disposed thereon. In theexemplary depiction of the keypad 14, many of the keys 18 include twolinguistic elements, such as including a first linguistic element 38 anda second linguistic element 40 assigned thereto. Accordingly, when a key18 having a first and a second linguistic element 38, 40 is depressed oractuated the input of that particular key can either be the first orsecond linguistic element 38, 40.

To illustrate, one of the keys 18 of the keypad 14 includes as thelinguistic elements 36 thereof the letters “Q” and “W” while an adjacentkey 18 includes as the characters 36 thereof the letters “E” and “R”. Ifthe key 18 on which the “Q” and “W” are disposed is actuated, then theoutput of the key 18 can either be the letter “Q” or the letter “W”. Itcan also be seen that the arrangement of the characters 36 on the keys18 of the keypad 19 in FIG. 1 is generally of a QWERTY arrangement,albeit with many of the keys 18 including two of the characters 36.

Furthermore, punctuations may also be assigned to one or more keys 18 onthe keypad 14. For example, the key 18 on which the letters “Q” and “W”are disposed also includes the exclamation point (!). In the particularembodiment of the keypad 18 that is depicted in FIG. 1, all of thepunctuations are entered into the handheld electronic device 2 byactuating the <SHIFT> key 41 immediately prior to actuating the key 18on which the desired punctuation is disposed. It should also be noted,however, that in other embodiments of the keypad 18 the actuation of the<SHIFT> key 41 prior to depressing the punctuation key might not benecessary.

Moreover, two or more punctuations may be assigned to a single key 18despite the fact that these punctuations are represented only by asingle character disposed on the key 18. For instance, referring to FIG.1, one of the keys 18 of the keypad 14 includes as the characters 36thereof the letter “L” and a graphic that represents the comma and theapostrophe.

The output apparatus 8 includes a display 42 upon which can be providedan output 44. An exemplary output 44 is depicted on the display 42 inFIG. 1. The output 44 includes a text component 46 and a variantcomponent 48. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the variant component 48extends substantially horizontally across the display 42. This, however,is not meant to be limiting since the variant component 48 can alsoextend across the display 42 substantially vertically. Preferably, thevariant component 48 is located generally in the vicinity of the textcomponent 46. The variant component 48 includes a predetermined quantityof output from which the user can select. The variant component 48includes a selection box 50 that appears in a default position 52.Initially, the default position 52 of the selection box 50 surroundsand/or highlights a preferred output 54 while the remainder of thevariant component 48 displays various alternative outputs 56. Asdescribed in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/931,281entitled “Handheld Electronic device with Text Disambiguation,” thepreferred output 54 is proposed by the text disambiguation function asbeing the most likely disambiguated interpretation of the ambiguousinput provided by the user. The selection box 50 is capable of moving(i.e. shifting) from the default position 52 to a number of otherpositions 58 by depressing or actuating the <NEXT> key 28 or by rotatingthe thumbwheel 16. By moving the selection box 50 to surround and/orhighlight the various alternative output choices 56, the user is able toselect any one of the various alternative outputs 56 for possible outputon the handheld electronic device's 2 output apparatus 8. The display 42also includes a caret (cursor) 62 that depicts generally where the nextoutput will be displayed.

To illustrate, if a user actuates a key 18 on which the letters “Q” and“W” are disposed, the handheld electronic device 2 will detect theactuation of the key 18 and display on the output apparatus 8 thevariant component 48. In this particular example, the handheldelectronic device 2 will display within the variant component 48 theletters “Q” and “W”. Assuming that the handheld electronic device 2prefers the letter “Q” as the preferred output 54, the selection box 50will initially surround or highlight the letter “Q” while the letter“W”, the alternative output 56, will be displayed outside of theselection box 50. The letter “Q”, which is the preferred output 54, isautomatically output at the caret's 62 original position. The user canthen continue to input additional linguistic elements into the handheldelectronic device 2 by actuating the input members on the handheldelectronic device 2. Alternatively, if the user would like to select theletter “Q”, the user would actuate the <ENTER> or <SPACE> keys 30, 60 ordepress the thumbwheel 16.

If the user would rather select the letter “W” as opposed to thepreferred letter “Q”, then the user would move the selection box 50 tosurround or highlight the letter “W” by either rotating the thumbwheel16 or actuating the <NEXT> key 28. Once the letter “W” has beensurrounded or highlighted by the selection box 50, the handheldelectronic device 2 will automatically output the letter “W” at thecaret's 62 original position.

The memory 12 is depicted schematically in FIG. 2. The memory 12 can beany of a variety of types of internal and/or external storage media suchas, without limitation, RAM, ROM, EPROM(s), EEPROM(s), and the like thatprovide a storage register for data storage such as in the fashion of aninternal storage area of a computer, and can be volatile memory ornonvolatile memory. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the memory 12 is inelectronic communication with the processor 10. The memory 12additionally includes a number of routines depicted generally with thenumeral 64 for the processing of data. The routines 64 can be in any ofa variety of forms such as, without limitation, software, firmware, andthe like. As will be explained in greater detail below, the routines 64include a routine that can be executed to perform method in accordancewith the disclosed and claimed concept as well as other routines 64 thatare utilized by the handheld electronic device 2. Additionally, thememory 12 can also store a variety of databases such as, withoutlimitation, a language database.

As stated elsewhere herein, the apostrophe and the comma are bothassigned to a single key 18. When a user actuates the key 18 to whichthe comma and apostrophe are assigned, the handheld electronic device 2will prefer, in most circumstances, the comma over the apostrophe. Toillustrate, if a user actuates the key 18 on which the comma and theapostrophe are assigned after actuating the key 18 on which the letters“E” and “R” are disposed, the handheld electronic device 2 will displaythe following outputs in the following sequence: the letter “E” followedby a comma (E,) (which is the preferred output 54), the letter “E”followed by an apostrophe (E'), the letter “R” followed by a comma (R,),and the letter “R” followed by an apostrophe (R'). The user, in order tooutput_the apostrophe, will have to highlight the apostrophe by movingthe selection box 50, which would be an additional input.

There are instances, however, when the handheld electronic device 2should prefer the apostrophe over the comma. For example, contractionsare often used in the French language. There are, therefore, certaincircumstances in the French language when the apostrophe, rather thanthe comma, can be the preferred punctuation to follow a single consonantat the beginning of the word.

According to an aspect of the present concept, the handheld electronicdevice 2 includes a routine 64, stored in memory 12 and executable byprocessor 10, for preferring one punctuation over another when bothpunctuations are programmed to a single key 18. This routine 64 may beused, for example, to prefer the apostrophe over the comma when one ormore predetermined criteria are satisfied. A flowchart depicting oneembodiment of the routine is depicted in FIG. 3.

As can be understood from FIG. 3, the routine begins at step 100, wherethe handheld electronic device 2 detects as an input an actuation of aninput member.

Once the input has been detected by the handheld electronic device 2,the handheld electronic device 2 generates, as at 102, a first outputbased on the detected input.

After the handheld electronic device 2 has generated, at 102, the firstoutput, the handheld electronic device 2 then detects, as at 104, asanother input an actuation of an input member having a plurality ofselectable output alternatives comprising a primary punctuation and asecondary punctuation. For example, the primary punctuation can be acomma while the secondary punctuation can be the apostrophe.

Once the handheld electronic device detects, at 104, the actuation ofthe input member having a plurality of selectable output alternatives,the handheld electronic device 2 determines, as at 106, whether thefirst output has a predetermined characteristic. For instance, thehandheld electronic device 2 can be programmed to determine whether thefirst output is a single consonant at the beginning of a new word orphrase. Furthermore, the handheld electronic device 2 can be programmedto determine whether the first output is a consonant selected from apredetermined group comprising the letters “J”, “T”, “M”, “N”, “C”, “L”,and “S”. In the present exemplary embodiment, a first output will havethe predetermined characteristic if it meets both of these requirements.

If the handheld electronic device 2 does determine, at 106, that thefirst output has the predetermined characteristic, then the handheldelectronic device prefers, as at 108, as the second output the secondarypunctuation over the primary punctuation. If the handheld electronicdevice 2 determines, as at 106, that the first output does not have thepredetermine characteristic (e.g. first output is not a consonant or isa consonant not in the predetermined group), then the handheldelectronic device 2 will prefer, as at 110, as the second output theprimary punctuation over the secondary punctuation.

The handheld electronic device 2 then outputs, as at 112, the secondoutput.

To illustrate, if a user would like to enter “L'arbre” into the handheldelectronic device 2 the user will first actuate the key 18 on which theletter “L” is disposed. The handheld electronic device 2 will thenoutput the letter “L”. When the user actuates the <SHIFT> key 18followed by the key 18 to which the comma and apostrophe are assigned,the handheld electronic device 2 will prefer the apostrophe over thecomma as the preferred output 54. The user will then enter the remainingletters to complete “L'arbre”.

The method depicted in FIG. 3 and described herein would be useful, forinstance, where French is the language of the handheld electronic device2. As will be set forth in greater detail below, French can also beselected as the default input language from amongst a plurality oflanguages. Other examples employing other punctuations in accordancewith different linguistic rules can be envisioned.

FIG. 4 depicts the general operation of another embodiment of animproved method in accordance with the disclosed and claimed concept.

In this particular embodiment, steps 200, 202, 204, 206, 208, 210, and212 of FIG. 4 correspond to steps 100, 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112of FIG. 3 respectively. Therefore, the description of steps 100, 102,104, 106, 108, 110, and 112 in the preceding paragraphs will also applyto their counterparts in FIG. 4.

Unlike the embodiment that is depicted in FIG. 3, however, thisembodiment includes the step of detecting, as at 300, a selection of apredetermined language at anytime prior to preferring either the primaryor secondary punctuation as the second output.

The handheld electronic device 2 prefers, as at 208, the secondarypunctuation only if the handheld electronic device 2 detects, at 300, apredetermined language and determines, at 206, that the first output hasa predetermined characteristic. For example, if the handheld electronicdevice 2 has a plurality of selectable languages available thereon, andif French is programmed into the handheld electronic device 2 as thepredetermined language, then the handheld electronic device 2 will onlyprefer the secondary punctuation as the second output if the handheldelectronic device detects 2 that French has been selected and that thefirst output has a predetermined characteristic (e.g. first output is asingle consonant at the beginning of a new word and is among thepredetermined group of consonants). Otherwise, the primary punctuationis preferred, as at 210, as the second output.

The handheld electronic device 2 then outputs, as at 212, the secondoutput.

It is noted that the disclosed and claimed concept can also be used withother languages that may have accents including, but not limited to, theRomanic languages such as German, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese aswell as the Cyrillic languages such as Greek and Russian.

While specific embodiments of the disclosed and claimed concept havebeen described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in theart that various modifications and alternatives to those details couldbe developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure.Accordingly, the particular arrangements disclosed are meant to beillustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the disclosed andclaimed concept which is to be given the full breadth of the claimsappended and any and all equivalents thereof.

1. A method of enabling input on a handheld electronic device, saidhandheld electronic device including an input apparatus having a numberof input members that are capable of being actuated, wherein at leastone of said input members has a plurality of selectable outputalternatives, the method comprising: detecting a first input, said firstinput having a predetermined characteristic; responsive to saiddetecting said first input, generating a first output; detecting as asecond input an actuation of an input member having a plurality ofoutput alternatives comprising at least a primary punctuation and asecondary punctuation; responsive to said first input having apredetermined characteristic, preferring as a second output saidsecondary punctuation; and outputting said secondary punctuation.
 2. Themethod of claim 1 wherein: said primary punctuation is a comma; and saidsecondary punctuation is an apostrophe.
 3. The method of claim 2 whereinsaid predetermined characteristic includes said first input being aconsonant.
 4. The method of claim 3 further comprising determining thatsaid consonant is a consonant from among a predetermined group ofconsonants.
 5. The method of claim 3 further comprising determining thatsaid consonant is a consonant from among a predetermined group ofconsonants comprising the letters j, t, m, n, c, l, and s.
 6. The methodof claim 2 wherein said predetermined characteristic includes said firstinput being the first character in a word.
 7. The method of claim 1further comprising detecting a selection of a predetermined language. 8.The method of claim 7 further comprising detecting as said predeterminedlanguage the French language.
 9. A method of enabling input on ahandheld electronic device, said handheld electronic device including aninput apparatus having a number of input members that are capable ofbeing actuated wherein at least one of said input members has aplurality of selectable input alternatives, the method comprising:detecting a selection of a predetermined language; detecting a firstinput, said first input having a predetermined characteristic;responsive to said detecting said first input, generating a firstoutput; detecting as a second input an actuation of an input memberhaving a plurality of output alternatives comprising at least a firstpunctuation and a second punctuation; responsive to said first inputhaving a predetermined characteristic, preferring as a second outputsaid secondary punctuation; and outputting said secondary punctuation.10. The method of claim 9 wherein: said primary punctuation is a comma;and said secondary punctuation is an apostrophe.
 11. The method of claim10 wherein said predetermined characteristic includes said first inputbeing a consonant.
 12. The method of claim 11 further comprisingdetermining that said consonant is a consonant from among apredetermined group of consonants.
 13. The method of claim 11 furthercomprising determining that said consonant is a consonant from among apredetermined group of consonants comprising the letters j, t, m, n, c,l, and s.
 14. The method of claim 11 wherein said predeterminedcharacteristic includes said first input being the first character in aword.
 15. The method of claim 9 further comprising detecting as saidpredetermined language the French language.
 16. A handheld electronicdevice comprising; an input apparatus having a number of input membersthat are capable of being actuated wherein at least one of said inputmembers has a plurality of selectable input alternatives; a processorapparatus comprising a processor and a memory in electroniccommunication with said processor, said memory storing one or moreroutines executable by said processor, said processor apparatus beingstructured to: detect a first input, said first input having apredetermined characteristic; responsive to said first input, generate afirst output; detect as a second input an actuation of an input memberhaving a plurality of output alternatives comprising at least a primarypunctuation and a secondary punctuation; prefer as a second output saidsecondary punctuation when said first input has a predeterminedcharacteristic; and output said secondary punctuation.
 17. The handheldelectronic device of claim 16 wherein said primary punctuation is acomma and said secondary punctuation is an apostrophe.
 18. The handheldelectronic device of claim 17 wherein said first output is a consonant.19. The handheld electronic device of claim 18 wherein said consonant isa consonant from among a predetermined group of consonants.
 20. Thehandheld electronic device of claim 18 wherein said consonant is aconsonant from among a predetermined group of consonants comprising theletters j, t, m, n, c, l, and s.
 21. The handheld electronic device ofclaim 16 wherein said processor apparatus is structured to output as avariant said first output and said primary punctuation.
 22. The handheldelectronic device of claim 16 wherein said processor apparatus isstructured to detect a selection of a predetermined language and,responsive thereto, to initiate the making of said determination. 23.The handheld electronic device of claim 22 wherein said processorapparatus is structured to detect as said predetermined language theFrench language.